The Boston Red Sox are turning to a rookie on one of baseball’s brightest stages. Left-hander Connelly Early, just 23-years-old, has been named the starter for Thursday’s decisive Game 3 of the New York Yankees vs. Red Sox American League Wild Card Series at Yankee Stadium.
This moment is historic. OptaSTATS took to X (formerly known as Twitter), highlighting just how unprecedented the assignment is.
“Connelly Early will be the first pitcher ever to start a winner-take-all postseason game within 30 days of his MLB debut.”
Early debuted on September 9, striking out 11 in his first start against the Athletics. Across four regular season outings, he posted a 2.33 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and 29 strikeouts in 19.1 innings. Featuring a five-pitch mix with a standout changeup, the southpaw enters Game 3 with no experience against the Yankees but plenty of trust from manager Alex Cora.
The series has been tense. The Red Sox won Game 1, 3-1, behind Masataka Yoshida’s clutch single, but the Yankees evened things with a 4-3 win in Game 2 after Jarren Duran misplayed a ball in left and Jazz Chisholm Jr. scored the decisive run. Boston’s bullpen was taxed in the loss, with seven pitchers used, making Early’s ability to work deep in Game 3 critical.
Early’s opponent is fellow rookie Cam Schlittler, who went 4-3 with a 2.96 ERA this season. With both clubs relying on young arms, the rivalry adds a new chapter of unpredictability this October.
For Boston, the stakes are massive. A win advances the Red Sox to the AL Division Series against the Toronto Blue Jays. A loss will fuel offseason questions about the pitching staff’s depth. The rotation has already been thinned by the absences of Kutter Crawford, Tanner Houck, Richard Fitts, Hunter Dobbins, and Dustin May. For Early, success could fast-track him into the 2026 rotation as a foundational piece.
The AL Wild Card showdown doubles as a referendum on the Red Sox youth movement. Trusting a pitcher with less than a month of big-league service in a do-or-die postseason game is a massive gamble, but one that could redefine this postseason and Early’s career.
